Skin cancer is an increasing health problem with many new cases diagnosed each year. Early detection of skin cancer may result in a significantly greater chance of recovery and reduction in health-care resource expenditures. One difficulty with early skin cancer detection is that there is no objective method for skin cancer screening available for use in a clinical setting. Conventionally, skin cancer screening is performed by combining visual observations with manual handwritten tracking methods done locally in a physician's office. Even when images of skin-features are used, it remains difficult to accurately and repeatably compare images taken over time, particularly because skin features are difficult to align. Aligning and comparing those images in a reliable and clinically useful way is not currently available.
Thus, there are general needs for systems and methods that can capture images in a precise and repeatable manner. There are also general needs for imaging stations and methods for repeatable alignment of images suitable for use in skin-cancer detection.